AbbVie sustains aggressive Humira push, GSK amps up on Breo to top March TV spenders

Humira is refusing to go quietly. Even as the anti-inflammatory faces patent expiration in the U.S. later this year, AbbVie ($ABBV) continues not only an aggressive advertising push, but also a similarly strong legal and patent effort to keep biosimilar versions off the market.

In March, AbbVie's TV ad spending on Humira ranked it No. 1 again, according to data from real-time TV ad tracker iSpot.tv. It spent $15.3 million on seven different TV spots for its three approved indications during the month.

Humira has been the No. 1 TV advertiser 5 out of the 7 months since FiercePharmaMarketing began reviewing monthly data from iSpot.tv. Not surprisingly, Humira also recently took the top spot for total 2015 advertising as tracked by Kantar Media; it spent $357 million on TV, print, radio, paid search, display and other ad formats for the year.

GlaxoSmithKline ($GSK) was second for March's TV spot spending with ads for its respiratory drug Breo, spending $12.1 million. It was followed by No. 3 Eliquis, the anticoagulant from Pfizer ($PFE) and Bristol-Myers Squibb ($BMY), which dropped $11.7 million on TV ads in March. Eliquis was also on the year-end list from Kantar, coming in at No. 3 with spending of $249 million for total advertising spending in 2015.

TV spending by the top pharma marketers was down overall in March, after the new year's kickoff spending months of January and February. The top 10 collectively spent $108 million, down from $126 million in February and $162 million in January. Part of the reason was the lack of expensive TV placements, such as the NFL playoffs in January and the Super Bowl in February, which pulled in two pharma advertisers as buyers of its pricey $5 million per :30 spots.

5. TamifluLast month: No. 5
Roche's flu treatmentTotal estimated spending: $10.3 million (down from $12.1 million in Jan.)# of spots: 2Ad with the biggest spend: A Big SolutionEstimated spend on that ad: $6.8 million

9. LyricaLast month: No. 9
Pfizer seizure and pain drugTotal estimated spending: $9.3 million (down from $9.2 million in Jan.)# of spots: 8Ad with the biggest spend: The FirstEstimated spend on that ad: $1,943,450